Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Ten Stages of NaNoWriMo


On any given day/hour/moment in the month of November, I will likely be experiencing one of the following stages. The stages can happen in any order and come and go with little or no warning. I can’t speak for any other Wrimos, but I’m really hoping that I’m not the only one. 

Stage One: It’s only 1,667 words per day and I have the best idea for a novel ever. What could possibly be so difficult about this? (this morphs into “oh I’ve got plenty of time. I can easily write the last however many words in the time I have left”, usually followed by blind panic)

Stage Two: This is the dumbest idea anyone ever thought of. What is the point of even writing something so utterly terrible? 

Stage Three: I’m actually a pretty good writer, even if this is the lamest story ever told. 

Stage Four: No one will be able to resist reading this book. Best. Story. Ever. 

Stage Five: That’s it. My brain is completely fried. All of my characters have abandoned me. Is it too late to start over?

Stage Six: Wait, that doesn’t make sense with what I wrote on page three. If I just went back and tweaked the beginning… AGHH, I’VE RUINED EVERYTHING!  

Stage Seven: Shitty first drafts. Shitty first drafts. It’s the natural order of things. Just keep writing.

Stage Eight: Ahoy! I’m a novelist! I’m writing a novel! Holy cow! 

Stage Nine:  I’ll never be able to pick up this wave of inspiration again if I stop now. Who needs sleep anyway? 

Stage Ten: I cannot go any further until I complete some essential research. And by complete essential research, I mean Google things for three hours.

What are some stages you go through during NaNo? 

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